Tens of US Retired Generals, Admirals Support Iran Nuclear Deal

Tens of US Retired Generals, Admirals Support Iran Nuclear Deal
Wed Aug 12, 2015 18:45:57

Three dozen retired generals and admirals released an open letter Tuesday supporting the Iran nuclear deal and urging US Congress to do the same, Al-Alam News Network reports.

According to US based Washington Post newspaper, the letter called the agreement the most effective means currently available to resolve Iran's nuclear issue.

Signers of the military letter include retired general and flag officers from every branch of service. They include four-star Marine Gens. James Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Joseph P. Hoar, former head of the U.S. Central Command; and Gens. Merrill McPeak and Lloyd W. Newton of the Air Force.

The letter said that “Military action would be less effective than the deal, assuming it is fully implemented. If the Iranians cheat, our advanced technology, intelligence and the inspections will reveal it, and US military options remain on the table.”

The letter from the retired military officers followed the release this past weekend of a letter to Obama by 29 of the nation’s leading scientists, who called the Iran deal “technically sound, stringent and innovative” and said it would “provide the necessary assurance in the coming decade and more that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.”

The letters provide the White House with additional backing as it wages an increasingly uphill fight to protect the agreement from congressional destruction. Lawmakers will decide next month whether to “disapprove” the deal, a vote that currently appears sure to win near universal Republican support and a significant number of Democratic defections.

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